The main focus of our multi-year project in CAZ West, Madagascar, made possible thanks to the support of The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), is to empower local communities to implement actions to improve their resilience, and that of other species and ecosystems, to the impact of climate change.
Start of rainy season has shifted
This year, Madagascar was particularly hit by a longer dry season, coupled with high temperatures. The first rain only came with the brief passage of the cyclone Dikeledi. Therefore, until January, the community couldn't grow rice as they would usually do. In the past, the first harvest would start in January. However, those members who continued market gardening despite the lack of water, and who have used their new skills in Climate Smart Agricultural practice, were still able to get some produce to harvest. 70% of the community have had courgette/marrow, beans, carrots and tomatoes in addition to attracting pollinating insects like bees to the flowers in their gardens.
Helping communities to become resilient
Climate change can have a devastating impact, and Madagascar is currently one of the worst-affected countries. Rising temperatures, unpredictable rainfall patterns including longer dry seasons, and more intense storms and cyclones can be particularly damaging to communities dependent on agriculture.
In addition to compost-making to enrich and improve the impoverished soil, our project includes training in several techniques, such as mulching agricultural plots to retain the moisture that is in the soil.
Other techniques include growing more resilient varieties and protecting plants when they are seedlings and are at their most vulnerable. This can be done by growing in pots which are then grouped under cover from the heat of direct sunlight. It also makes watering the young plants more effective.
We were not as successful at school
Even using different climate-smart techniques it is difficult to avoid fluctuations in crop yields. Our school market gardens are an example, as the germination rates and productivity this year are currently lower than last year due to the lack of rain at a critical stage of the planting process. The school gardens are particularly vulnerable to reduced rainfall because all school buildings are located at high elevations to avoid being flooded during abundant rain and cyclones. Whilst the locations mitigate against these threats it makes access to water for watering crops even more difficult when rivers are drying out. More can be done to help offset these variations, such as successional planting, and storage options for preserving food surplus in better years. Some of these options can be considered during the lifespan of this project whilst other possibilities, like the building of wells, will have to be addressed in the future.
Despite that we don’t give up!
Community involvement has long been the key element of our conservation activities in Madagascar and it includes a wide range of activities such as protected area patrols and forest restoration. However, converting negative practices into sustainable natural resource management requires training and ongoing support to help subsistence farming communities achieve alternative, productive, methods of food production and income generation.
In addition to training community members in agroforestry, we are also collaborating with local NGO Fanambinantsoa who are training schoolteachers and children in environmental education and climate-smart market gardening.
By the end of the project period, approximately 1,200 schoolchildren will benefit from these activities. This is important for two main reasons. Children often retain new knowledge and skills more effectively than adults and, when they mature, they will naturally use the sustainable agricultural techniques they are learning through this project. More immediately, in Madagascar, it is estimated that half the children fail to complete primary school, particularly in rural areas. Lack of education is a significant driver of illiteracy which in turn drives poverty, and one of the main reasons for children to drop school attendance is poor nutrition. The market gardens being established as part of this project not only give children lifelong skills but the food being grown in the process provides them with nutritious school meals.
Training covers all ages, including the youngest schoolchildren © The Aspinall Foundation Madagascar
Training involves learning theory and applying skills in practice. This ensures people understand why certain procedures work better than others and, at the same time, experience is gained through growing and producing food. The results also encourage people to continue the process.
Forest restoration and agroforestry are at their best
In our project update of September last year we reported that women from several of the local communities had begun weaving pots from plant material to be used instead of plastic pots. This has the obvious advantage of reducing dependence on plastic and it provides income and introduces skills. We are pleased to confirm this continues to be well adopted. At the beginning of this year (2025), 6,000 pots have been crafted by 10 women.
Not all the communities we are working with for this project have weaving skills, but the idea has become so well-received that other methods are now being used to take advantage of natural biodegradable plant material.
Apart from growing native trees as part of the agroforestry activities, our coffee growing project is also doing well as we have proposed that one or two people from each community grow the seedlings and we will purchase coffee saplings from them. To date, 2,400 saplings are ready to be distributed and planted for 3 communities (Ranomainty, Raboana and Sakalava).
It is part of the process that projects evolve and develop over time. This has always been the case but with the increasing impact of external forces such as climate change, it is increasingly important to monitor, evaluate and learn as project activities are carried out. It is also critically important that communities continue to receive training and support from multi-year projects because it takes many years for people to adapt their lifestyles away from long-held beliefs and practices.
The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund is a joint initiative of l’Agence Française de Développement, Conservation International, the European Union, the Global Environment Facility, the Government of Japan and the World Bank. A fundamental goal is to ensure civil society is engaged in biodiversity conservation.